Dreams of the Forgotten Past
by Dorothy Claire
Summary: A teenage girl ends up in Konoha with no memory of her past. Slowly she begins to recognize people she knew before. Dreams tell her of her childhood as she sleeps... but which are memories and which are nothing more than dreams?
1. A Prologue

_My first Naruto fanfic. And in a way my first fanfic. This is a rewrite. (I managed to get all the little ideas together to make a firm plot.)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did I'd be eternally happy._

* * *

_THUD! Another kunai slimly missed its target, its path nearly invisible in the black of night, but that was just one of the many. Running clumsily through an unfamiliar forest, a young 13 year old girl feared for her hardly-lived life. She didn't know why, but she was being chased...and attacked._

_THUD! A shuriken was thrown at her this time, just barely missing her neck as it sliced some of her brown hair. She had been lucky again, but still didn't dare to stop this deadly race. As she jumped a fallen log blocking her way, a shuriken hit her, placing itself right between the bones in her left leg, slowing her down. She wouldn't stop though. She couldn't stop. She still wanted to live! That faint hope of getting away, that small chance of staying alive, it was keeping her going… but the will to live was slowly draining away from her soul as she began to tire from the long and stressful fight to survive._

_THUD! Another missed, but as the shuriken hit the tree, another wave of pain overtook her. She looked down in time to see a kunai flying past her, glistening in the faint moonlight, and leaving a deep gash in her right arm. The pain almost caused her to faint, but she still had to run, even though the footsteps behind her seemed to be fading away. Was she safe now? She had to know, but just as she slowed to a stop about to turn, sapphire blue eyes scanning the forest, a heavy object came crashing down on her forehead, knocking her unconscious._

* * *

_This fanfic is a mix of me writing it and my friend writing it, so if the style changes, you'll know why!_


	2. A Name

**Dreams of the Forgotten Past – Chapter 2 - A Name**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The only character that I consider mine is Sora. I don't own anything in this fanfiction except Sora.**

'_Words_,' is Sora's thoughts.

* * *

The girl woke up to find herself in bed in a hospital room with her wounds bandaged and, as far as she could tell, no pain, though she wasn't sure it'd stay that way if she decided to try to get up or move. To her right was a window. She saw that it was the middle of the afternoon considering the position of the sun. There was also a blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds sailing slowly past.

The girl watched the clouds float lazily by while she tried to remember why she was in this room. She couldn't even remember what had happened. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember anything. Not even where she was from or who she was. It wasn't the most comforting feeling in the world.

She looked to her left when she heard the sound of a door opening. Through the door came a teenage boy - 12 or 13 by the looks of it - who had a grey sweatshirt, messy brown hair, long red triangles on his cheeks, and a small white puppy on his head wagging its tail.

"Hey, you're finally awake!" said the boy, smiling. "I guess you're probably wondering how you got here," he said while rubbing the back of his head, ruffling his hair.

"How did you know?" answered the girl with a hint of sarcasm, though she couldn't help smiling.

By now the boy was grinning, and the girl noticed that he had slightly larger-than-normal canines accompanied by somewhat dog-like features overall. "Well, this morning I was out walking Akamaru here," at this the puppy on his head gave a bark and wagged its tail furiously for a few seconds, "and on our way back we ran across you, unconscious in the forest nowhere near the path. You had quite a few cuts and bruises, so I carried you back here to the hospital, and here you are.

"The Hokage should be here any minute," he added, "To talk to you. I think you'll like him."

Then, as if on cue, the door opened again and an old man came in, with a large red and white bowl-like hat on his head with a red kanji meaning "light" on the center front.

"I see you've already met Kiba," the old man said, "I am the Hokage of Konoha, this village, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Sure, fire away," said the girl sounding confident but actually frantically trying to come up with a name for herself.

"First of all, what's your name?"

"Sora Tayume," replied the girl, with very little concentration, but she couldn't tell if the Hokage noticed the hesitation or not.

"Sora... Hm. Where are you from?" Said the Hokage, asking another question that Sora would have to lie about.. but those aren't easy to avoid if you can't remember anything about yourself.

"I-I'm a traveler," Sora replied, desperately hoping she would just sound nervous, but the Hokage knew that it was more than that, having had years of experience with reading emotions and body language, though all he said was one just more thing;

"When you're fully healed, I'd like you to come to my office," and with that, he left with a polite nod and smile.

Kiba was also heading out the door, saying, "I've gotta go for training! See ya again soon, Sora! By the way, my name's Kiba Inuzuka." And with a wave and a bark from Akamaru, he left.

--+--+--

The next day, Sora was lying in her hospital bed watching the clouds outside the window. She would be free to go tomorrow, but first she'd have to visit the Hokage.

'_Great,'_ she thought, _'he noticed that I was making those things up. He'll probably ask me more questions and then I'll have to tell him that I can't remember anything… I'll probably be stuck in here because of that. That, or watched all the time because they'll be afraid I'm an assassin or something.'_

She sighed. _'There's not much I can do either way… I guess I'll have to accept whatever fate is given to me. My life is likely to live up to my name, Tayume, meaning "lonely dream".'_

Sora let her mind wander while she alternated watching the people wandering around town and watching the fluffy white clouds that were in the evening sky. Occasionally a bird would flit from one tree to the next, or a cat would walk past just a little ways from her second-story window.

Sora was getting a little impatient just waiting around, but she figured that since she was getting out soon enough, she would just spend her time coming up with a story of her life, but it wouldn't help that she couldn't remember anything -- not even the names of towns or countries, causing her story-making to be a lot harder. But she'd eventually figure it out; she was a quick-thinker, very logical and able to make convincing lies, if she tried.

If she was going to resort to coming up with a story, she knew she'd have to include her being a traveler, since that was what she told the Hokage yesterday. She would be traveling with her father who was a merchant, and her sister, who made clothes and jewelry.

_'Well, it's a start,'_ she thought,_ 'but I'm not sure what I'll say if he asks about why I was attacked… I don't even remember what happened except running in the forest.'_

Sora tried to come up with more answers, but couldn't, and soon she fell into a dreamless sleep.

--+--+--

Sora woke up and glanced at the clock to find that it was 8:00 a.m. There was a change of clothes on the table next to her bed, so she got dressed. She changed into a lavender T-shirt with the kanji for "sky" on it (A/N: Sora means sky), navy blue long capris, and blue sandals. Her left leg was bandaged nearly to the knee, where she was hit by a shuriken, along with her upper right arm bandaged where the kunai had cut her.

Sora's leg was a little sore, as was her arm, but other than that little bit of pain, she was fine, and decided to go see the Hokage and get it over with, though she was afraid of what the result may be. _'Maybe I can get off with just being watched,'_ Sora thought, _'and not be interrogated or anything… as if. I doubt I'll be that lucky-but… I can hope. But it would be too much to ask to not even be watched. Because it makes sense that they wouldn't trust me… someone they don't know found close to their village. Ah, well. No use thinking about it until I know what'll happen for sure.'_

When Sora got down to the reception counter of the hospital, she asked where the Hokage's office was. The lady there gave Sora the directions to the Hokage building, and from there, his office. Sora thanked the lady and followed the directions until she came to a large and slightly intimidating building.

Sora followed the directions until they led her to a door. She took a deep breath, and then knocked.

"Come in,"

Sora walked in to see the Hokage sitting at a desk, with a pile of papers on either side and a letter open in front of him.

The old man looked up from the letter. "Ah, Sora. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good," Sora replied, "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, trying desperately to hide her uneasiness and slight worry.

The Hokage, still looking at her, said, "I asked you to come here because I noticed that you weren't entirely truthful with your answers yesterday."

_'…figures.'_ "I thought you might have noticed," Sora answered, giving in.

"But," he continued, "I also noticed that there wasn't a bad intent behind your lies, am I correct?"

_'Wow… he's observant…'_ "Yeah, you're correct," she stated, wondering what would happen next. _'At least he's likely to believe that I don't remember anything. That's one good thing.'_

"Would you be willing to tell me the reasons for your dishonesty?" the Hokage inquired. When the old man asked this, Sora felt his emotion. She could tell that he was curious, not accusing.

"Yes… I-I can't remember anything about myself or my past… just waking up in the hospital, and that's it, though I think I remember something about running and being attacked," Sora admitted with a little hesitation.

"Well, that would explain it," the Hokage stated with a small smile, "Do you have any ideas of what you want to do now?"

_'What?? I must be dreaming… he accepted it right away. But I don't have any plans… Maybe to train as a ninja? I think I remember something like that, though… was I a ninja before and I just can't remember?'_

"I didn't have any plans, but something in the back of my mind is telling me to train as a ninja… is there any sort of test I could take that would show if I had training before and just can't remember?" Sora inquired.

The old man smiled, "I'm sure I can find someone to test you, but until then I have someone to show you around the village. Before you go, I'll give you a scroll you can study that tells about the different parts of being a ninja."

The Hokage walked over to a shelf and took a scroll from it. He then walked over and handed it to Sora.

"Shikamaru Nara will be waiting for you at the entrance to this building, and he'll show you around the village," the old man said. Sora could still feel his curiosity, except it was of a slightly different sort, though she couldn't tell what.

Sora bid the Hokage good bye and then went back the way she came.

* * *

The writing style is getting worse (My friend didn't have time to rewrite it for me) but hopefully, if nothing else, the plot will get better soon. And maybe at the same time the writing style will, too! …. I wish.

Please review! Well, that is, if you liked it. If not, I won't force you to review. :P (not that I could whether you liked it or not… but I wish I could.)

Oh, and if anyone would be willing, I need help. A couple of my friends want some romance in this fanfic, but I don't know who to pair with Sora. So if you have any suggestions, be sure to tell me! Or even other pairings that you like, they don't have to be with Sora. Just any of the regular Naruto characters would be fine.


	3. A Home

**Dreams of the Forgotten Past – Chapter 3 - A Home**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Before Sora even got out the door of the building, she sensed immense boredom and laziness coming from outside. When she got outside, she looked around and immediately spotted the source of the apathy. A boy was lying against a tree watching the clouds. He looked eleven or twelve, so about Sora's age, and there was a small bag lying next to him, along with a weapon pouch on his right leg. His hair was up in a spiky ponytail resembling a pineapple, and he had on a grayish short-sleeved coat over a fishnet shirt.

"I take it you're Shikamaru," Sora said, walking up to the boy.

"Yep, and you must be Sora," he replied as his gaze switched to where she stood. Sora nodded.

Shikamaru took one last glance at the clouds before getting up and slinging the small bag on his shoulder. "I guess I'd better show you around now," he said.

-~-+-=*=-+-~-

The whole time Shikamaru was showing Sora around, she couldn't help but notice extreme boredom radiating from him. Sora figured that he was like this pretty much all the time, from how bored he was, but he didn't show it as much as most people would, and she wouldn't have noticed if she couldn't sense emotions, though this ability puzzled her. Every now and again Shikamaru would call something troublesome. Sora figured it was a habit for him by now, since he'd probably been doing it his whole life, judging by how he stuck that word in so many of his sentences.

By about one o'clock that afternoon, Shikamaru had shown Sora around nearly all of Konoha. She had made sure to mentally note where the training grounds were, along with the shopping district and the apartment complexes. They had eaten a small lunch at a food stand before they headed down yet another road, finishing off the tour of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Shikamaru turned around to face her, his hands in his pockets, and said, "Well, that's pretty much everything. Now we should go back and rent you an apartment with the money the Hokage gave me. What a drag," that last part was almost inaudible.

Sora thought for a few seconds and then asked, "Do you want me to do it myself? That way you can go do whatever you want. I know the way to the apartments, they're just that way about a half a mile and then to the left," she said, indicating with a nod of her head which direction the apartments were.

Shikamaru, being the genius he was, had already thought it through, so he replied, "Nah, I'm going that way anyway. And it would be rude for me to leave you alone. You might get your troublesome self lost somehow."

Deciding it would be best not to argue with a genius when she was tired, Sora shrugged and gave in.

-~-+-=*=-+-~-

When they arrived at the start of the residential district of Konoha was, Shikamaru led her toward a building right to their left which was obviously where apartments were purchased.

The two went inside, and Shikamaru rummaged around in the small bag he had with him (A/N: bet'cha forgot about that, huh?) pulling out an envelope and handing it to Sora.

"Here, the Hokage asked me to give this to you. Troublesome, I don't know why he couldn't have done it himself… but whatever," he added with a shrug.

Sora opened the envelope which contained a note and a good deal of money. The note said "Use this money for renting an apartment and buying food and clothes, but try to spend it wisely. Also, in the morning at 8 a.m, head to the training grounds to meet the team who will test, and possibly even train, you."

She then rented one of the smaller apartments, and then set out to locate it. Shikamaru, giving Sora the benefit of the doubt, agreed to let her find her apartment and the shops on her own.

Sora found her apartment with very little trouble - She only turned the wrong way once, and she quickly noticed - so she was soon looking around her home.

Her apartment was small, but it had the necessities and even some simple luxuries. It had four rooms; a main room, a bedroom, a kitchen/dining room, and a bathroom. The main room had a couch, an empty shelf, and a couple of chairs. The kitchen had a refrigerator, a microwave, a sink, two cabinets above the sink, along with a couple drawers and another cabinet below. The dining room part of the kitchen had a small table with a couple of chairs at it.

The bedroom had a small bed, a small closet, a dresser, and a nightstand. Luckily, the nightstand had an alarm clock on it already, making things a little easier. Right then it was just after 4 p.m.

The bathroom had a shower, a sink with a few drawers and a cabinet both below and above it, and a toilet.

Deciding to get it over with, Sora was soon heading toward the shopping district to buy some food and clothes.

-~-+-=*=-+-~-

Sora got home about 7 p.m. after buying three outfits, giving her a total of four, and two sets of pajamas, along with various food items, most of which were things that took very little preparation, such as ramen cups, along with some milk, and various other necessities, such as soap and toothpaste and stuff of the sort.

She ate some of the ramen after noticing how hungry she was, having not eaten for pretty much the whole day. Afterwards, she took out the scroll with information on ninja techniques, from chakra theory to basic Jutsu.

She read about the different techniques, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu. Apparently, Taijutsu was hand-to-hand combat, in a sense, usually requiring little or no chakra and generally dealing with speed and strength. Genjutsu was seemed to be an illusion technique manipulating the senses, often using sound, such as bells, flutes, or whistles, and sometimes noises so high pitched you couldn't hear them, but they were still powerful, although very complex. Ninjutsu seemed to be mostly elemental with some other things, like the shadow manipulation of the Nara clan and the expansion Jutsu of the Akamichi clan. It was pretty much anything that didn't fit into the other two categories. It told about practically every known form of the Jutsu, including Suna's puppet master technique, and Sasori of the Red Sand who made battle puppets. She also read about different bloodline traits such as the Sharingan, Byakugan, and techniques passed through families. Sora found it all fascinating and she wondered if her ability to sense emotions was a bloodline trait.

It was about 11 o'clock when she finished reading the scroll. She went to bed after setting the alarm clock for 6 a.m. giving her two hours before she had to be at the training grounds.

* * *

My dividing lines get fancier and fancier, don't they?

from

--+--+--

to

-~-+-=*=-+-~-

Reviews are appreciated! I'm still trying to figure out what pairings there should be, if any. There probably will be, since one of my friends likes romance stuff. I'm not sure what the pairings should be, and who would be paired with Sora... opinions, ideas, and even rantings are allowed! Please review! I'm sorry this chapter is short, but it's all I had saved as an email draft before my computer crashed. Granted, that was a while ago, but I've been busy this summer.


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